THE RIDGEWOOD CO-OP IS ALL READY UP FOR ITS 44th YEAR
The Cooperative Nursery School of Ridgewood (aka “The Co-op”) is all set to open for its 44th year on September 12, 2011. Every new school year brings changes and the biggest one this year is our new director, Denise DeAngelis. As a former co-op parent and Ridgewood resident, Ms. DeAngelis brings with her years of experience and a genuine love for the school and the children who go there. This year the school is introducing a new program, Discovery Day Friday. Regular class schedules run Monday-Thursday and this program gives students a chance to learn about a variety of topics that are not covered in the classroom.
The Co-op offers morning and afternoon classes for Kindergarten Enrichment, 2 ½ , 3, 4-year-olds, as well as Mommy & Me. The school’s seasoned professional teaching staff guides students toward social, emotional and physical well-being. Children learn and play in an environment ideally suited to their needs as developing individuals. The program encourages independence, self-discipline and a love for school. Setting the school apart from other nursery schools, parents actively participate in their child’s early learning experience. Music, physical education, field trips, indoor and outdoor play time and an in-house library are just a few of the experiences to which the children are exposed as supplements to the daily education plans.
There are still some spots available for the 2011-2012 school year. Please call the school at (201) 447-6232 or email us at ridgewoodcopp@gmail.com for more information or to schedule a visit to the school.
>U.S. Files Complaint to Block AT&T, T-Mobile Merger
The U.S. Justice Department sued to block AT&T Inc.’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA Inc., saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless market.
The government is seeking a declaration that AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), would violate U.S. antitrust law, according to a complaint filed today in federal court in Washington. The U.S. also asked for a court order blocking implementation of the deal, the largest announced acquisition of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Wednesday is the day when this column usually becomes a Q&A forum — often about the Motor Vehicle Commission — but with much of North Jersey still underwater, I’ve got a question of my own about an agency that so many reader love to hate:
Why are so many motor vehicle offices in flood plains?
This question is being asked as the people who entered the Wallington office early Tuesday were being shooed out the door to prevent them from being engulfed in the wet aftermath of Hurricane Irene. MVC offices in flood-prone Lodi, Paterson and Wayne were closed all day.
Why are these offices in Paterson, Lodi and Wayne?
Of all places, why in Wayne on Route 46 near the Willowbrook Mall, the retail capital of chronic New Jersey flooding? (Cichowski, The Record)
> Congressmen Scott Garrett (R) Tours Oakland, Westwood and Hillsdale to Inspect Flood Damage From Hurricane Irene
WASHINGTON, DC, August 30, 2011 – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) yesterday toured towns in Bergen County affected by flooding from Hurricane Irene. Garrett toured flood-damaged areas in Oakland with Mayor John Szabo, Westwood with Mayor John Birkner and Hillsdale with Mayor Max Arnowitz. He will be touring flood-damaged towns in Warren and Sussex counties today.
Rep. Scott Garrett tours flood damage in Oakland.
Westwood family takes Rep. Garrett on tour of flood-damaged home.
Hillsdale flood victims talk with Rep. Garrett.
“This is some of the worst flooding I’ve ever seen in North Jersey. Words cannot describe how heartbreaking it is to see so many homes and businesses under water,” said Garrett after touring the flood damage on Monday. “I will do everything in my power to make sure FEMA helps 5th District residents recover from this disaster. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to pitch in and lend a hand to neighbors in need. The best thing we can do right now is stick together as a community. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this terrible tragedy.”
> The Village of Ridgewood will hold a Remembrance Ceremony on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 7:30PM.
The Village of Ridgewood will hold a Remembrance Ceremony on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at 7:30PM. The Ceremony will be held at the 9/11 Memorial Rock in Memorial Park at Van Neste Square to remember the twelve residents killed at the World Trade Center terrorist attack. The Ceremony will be similar to the ceremony held in 2001.
During the month of September an exhibit of “Portraits” will be on display in the Belcher Auditorium at the Ridgewood Public Library. The exhibit of pictures honors the memory of each of ‘Ridgewood’s Twelve’ and offers a place for reflection. Photos of the Ridgewood 2001 Memorial Events will be included in the exhibit.
The music community will recognize the 10th Anniversary with the presentation of The Requiem by Gabriel Faure. The performance will take place West Side Presbyterian Church, 6 South Monroe Street at 4:00 p.m. Sunday,
September 11th. Various houses of worship in the area, community choral groups, and musicians including Ridgewood Concert Band, Ridgewood Symphony, and baritone soloist Dr. Robert Prowse will participate. This program was first presented after the fall of the towers in 2001.
>Ridgewood golfer set for final round of Women’s Met Open
Published 11:05 p.m., Tuesday, August 30, 2011
N.J. — Ridgewood Country Club golfer Margaret Platt-Klaus shot an 8-over-par 80 on Tuesday and is tied for 25th place after one round at the Women’s Met Open Championship at Canoe Brook Country Club.
The Ridgewood Public Library is dedicated to providing information, education, culture and inspiration. We encourage our community to pursue life long learning and the enjoyment of books, programs and resources in a variety of formats. We strive to offer the best possible library materials, staff, technology and facility, with ready and equal access to residents of all ages.
Telephone: (201) 670-5600 Circulation Desk x 100Reference Desk x 130 Children’s Room x 110Administration x 120 ESL x 141Friends of the Library x 180
Hours of Operation Monday – Thursday9 am – 9 pm *Friday9 am – 6 pm Closed on Friday July 29 & Aug 29 Saturday 9 am – 5 pm Closed on SundayJun 26 – Sep 4
>Bullying Law Puts New Jersey Schools on Spot
By WINNIE HU
Published: August 30, 2011
Under a new state law in New Jersey, lunch-line bullies in the East Hanover schools can be reported to the police by their classmates this fall through anonymous tips to the Crimestoppers hot line.
In Elizabeth, children, including kindergartners, will spend six class periods learning, among other things, the difference between telling and tattling.
And at North Hunterdon High School, students will be told that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander when it comes to bullying: if they see it, they have a responsibility to try to stop it.
But while many parents and educators welcome the efforts to curb bullying both on campus and online, some superintendents and school board members across New Jersey say the new law, which takes effect Sept. 1, reaches much too far, and complain that they have been given no additional resources to meet its mandates.
>Ridgewood school district adjusting to new anti-bullying policy
MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2011
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act will officially take effect at the start of the coming school year, bringing with it changes to definitions and procedures concerning incidents of harassment.
The act, passed in January in part as a response to the nationally publicized suicide of Ridgewood High School graduate Tyler Clementi, is considered to contain some of the strictest anti-bullying laws in the country. The revisions to the existing Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying policy were formally adopted on second reading at the July 18 Board of Education (BOE) public meeting.
Water utilities may see faster ROI for infrastructure upgrades
The state is spelling out details of a proposal that will allow water utilities to recover costs for improving their water mains, hydrants and other infrastructure more quickly from customers without as much regulatory scrutiny.
The proposal, in the works for the past several months, would address a priority of Board of Public Utilities (BPU) President Lee Solomon, who has often said that the next big crisis facing New Jersey will be the cost of upgrading its aging water infrastructure.
With New Jersey facing as much $20 billion to repair its water and wastewater infrastructure, the streamlined payment mechanism is seen as a way of prodding water companies to speed up much needed repairs. If upgrades are done sooner rather than later, the long-term costs to ratepayers will be much less, according to advocates of the proposal. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
Port Authority head says toll hikes are too LOW, not enough to keep up with rest of the world
Punishing toll hikes may have enraged New Yorkers – but they weren’t steep enough, says Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward.
Critically needed upgrades at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and LaGuardia and Newark airports will be delayed because of cash shortages, Ward told construction execs Tuesday.
“The reality is that you cannot always do more with less,” the bistate agency boss told a New York Building Congress luncheon.
“Sometimes you simply must do more, and we’ll be playing catchup with the rest of the world until that reality becomes a part of our political conversation.”
Ward was careful not to criticize either Gov. Cuomo or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who scaled down the PA’s planned toll hike to a still-crushing $15 by 2015. The agency had wanted a fast $4 toll hike on Hudson River crossings, which was slashed to $1.50 this year for E-ZPass drivers.
>Obama’s proposed regs would cost billions annually
President Obama told Speaker John A. Boehner in a letter Tuesday that his administration is considering seven regulations that would each cost the U.S. economy more than $1 billion per year, although he added that these rules are “merely proposed.”
All told, the seven proposed rules cited by Mr. Obama would cost companies at least $38 billion per year and could cost as much as $100 billion annually.
“Before finalizing any of them, we will take account of public comments and concerns and give careful consideration to cost-saving possibilities and alternatives,” Mr. Obama wrote to the Ohio Republican.
Mr. Boehner wrote to the president last Friday, asking for an accounting of proposed rules that would cost more than $1 billion annually. “The economy cannot withstand the barrage of major new federal regulations planned by the administration,” Mr. Boehner said.
>Swiss scientists finally discover the true cause of “global warming”. It’s the sun, stupid
Sun Causes Climate Change Shock
If Michael Crichton had lived to write a follow-up to State of Fear, the plotline might well have gone like this: at a top secret, state of the art laboratory in Switzerland, scientists finally discover the true cause of “global warming”. It’s the sun, stupid. More specifically – as the Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark has long postulated – it’s the result of cosmic rays which act as a seed for cloud formation. The scientists working on the project are naturally euphoric: this is a major breakthrough which will not only overturn decades of misguided conjecture on so-called Man Made Global Warming but will spare the global economy trillions of dollars which might otherwise have been squandered on utterly pointless efforts to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, these scientists have failed to realise just how many people – alarmist scientists, huckster politicians, rent-seeking landowners like (the late Michael Crichton’s brilliant and, of course, entirely fictional creation) the absurd, pompous Sir Reginald Leeds Bt, green activists, eco-fund managers, EU technocrats, MSM environmental correspondents – stand to gain from the Man Made “Climate Change” industry. Their discovery must be suppressed at all costs. So, one by one, the scientists on the cosmic ray project find themselves being bumped off, until only one man remains and must race against time to prove, etc, etc…
> The problem many people have, including myself, is that the EPA is using the Clean Air Act as an excuse to limit the emission of carbon dioxide
Dear Mr. DuBois:
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. I appreciate hearing from you on this issue.
A 2007 Supreme Court Decision, Massachusetts v. EPA, compelled EPA to address whether greenhouse gases are air pollutants that endanger public health and welfare, and if so to embark on a regulatory course that is prescribed by statute. Having made an affirmative decision on the endangerment question, EPA is now proceeding with regulations. EPA’s regulations focused first on the transportation sector with the issuance of standards for light-duty vehicles and proposed standards for medium and heavy vehicles.
With regard to stationary sources, EPA first targeted the largest new sources and major modifications of existing sources and recently announced plans to develop new source performance standards for the electric utility and refinery sectors. Such standards are the traditional approach used under the Clean Air Act and are generally implemented through state programs. The regulations are being developed on a time frame consistent with Clean Air Act requirements covering other pollutants to allow covered sources the flexibility of developing compliance plans that cost-effectively meet a comprehensive set of requirements.
Thank you again for contacting me.
Senator Lautenberg
Dear Senator Lautenberg,
on the surface, your response is correct. The problem is that it is too general. I think we all agree that the EPA must necessarily regulate the emission of certain materials, such as mercury, sulphur, etc. The problem many people have, including myself, is that the EPA is using the Clean Air Act as an excuse to limit the emission of carbon dioxide, which is not in the same category as other substances that are harmful and /or carcinogenic. The EPA is illegally “regulating” carbon dioxide to get around Congress so they can benefit those who believe it is responsible for so-called climate change. It is not. Over the past year, so much evidence has been uncovered, not just showing that data was fraudulently skewed and scientists lied, to make it appear that carbon dioxide was causing the earth to heat, but that current measurements prove that the earth is not heating at all (a fraction of one degree, if at all), and actually has been in a cooling cycle. Just within the past month, scientists at NASA have shown that the earth actually dissipates carbon dioxide into space at a much greater rate than the climate change liars have stated. While many, including myself, originally accepted the climate change claims, most of us have seriously studied the new data and the proof that so much of Al Gore’s initial claims are invalid. Cap and Trade couldn’t be pushed through the Senate for a reason; too many Senators realized it was a scam. The President, Al Gore, Goldman Sachs, Bill Ayers, and George Soros were among the few who were able to own all the shares of the Chicago Climate (Carbon?) Exchange, which would have eventually done 17 trillion in business a year, making them all billionaires. That’s the truth behind regulating greenhouse gasses – greed.
I have no arguement with your citing the Court decision that greenhouse gasses that are harmful should be regulated. However, carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, and should not be included in the listing. Those who claimed it was harmful have been refuted – after all, it is what you exhale with every breath, and what trees use to make oxygen. The EPA, at the President’s urging, I’m sure, is overstepping its authority by trying to control it. That is something that must come from Congress, if at all.
At 4:30 p.m. Friday, our governor took to the airwaves to deliver one of those sound bites for which he is nationally famous. He brought up the topic of some people who were still on the beach in Monmouth County in the face of the oncoming hurricane. “Get the hell off the beach,” he said.
It was good advice and I took it. I drove up to Manasquan to check the surf. It looked good, so I got the hell off the beach and went for a surf.
I gather this is not the sort of behavior our governor sought to encourage. But the day I start taking advice about the ocean from an out-of-shape lawyer is the day I decide that maybe breathing H20 isn’t such a bad idea after all.
After Chris Christie’s performance in the run-up to Hurricane Irene, we should change our nickname. We’re no longer the Garden State. We’re the Nanny State. For a few days there, it was impossible to turn on the TV without hearing Christie and New York Nanny Mike Bloomberg tell citizens what they should do for their own good. (Mulshine, The Star-Ledger)
